Another television titan is trading their dawn patrol for destination unknown. Steve Doocy — Fox News’ longtime morning show stalwart — is ditching those brutal 3:30 AM wake-up calls for something decidedly more civilized. After logging an almost incomprehensible 31,607 hours of live television (yes, somebody actually sat down and counted), he’s joining the growing exodus of veteran broadcasters who’ve decided enough is enough.
Let’s be real. Those hours are brutal.
“The show is great. I love the show — but the hours suck,” Doocy admitted to Mediaite with the kind of refreshing honesty you rarely get from TV personalities these days. After nearly 6,828 pre-dawn wake-up calls, who could blame him for wanting to hit the snooze button permanently?
But hold the retirement party champagne. This isn’t so much a farewell as it is a rather brilliant reinvention. Doocy’s trading that infamous “curvy couch” for what might be television’s cushiest new gig — roaming correspondent extraordinaire. “Coast-to-coast host” is his new title, and it comes with a deliciously strategic twist: a home base in Florida, with appearances three days a week from anywhere between “the Carolinas to the Keys, from Middle America to Mar-a-Lago.”
Speaking of Mar-a-Lago… Even former President Trump couldn’t resist weighing in with a characteristically Trump-esque farewell: “You’ve always treated me fairly — sometimes a little more fairly than other times, but that’s okay.” Classic.
The human story here? It’s written between the lines of those endless pre-dawn drives. “When my kids were growing up, I never had breakfast with them. I was always here,” Doocy shared. Now he’s swapping those morning show monologues for breakfast with grandkids — a plot twist sweet enough to make Hallmark jealous.
Fox News clearly knows what they’re doing. With FOX & Friends still crushing the competition (drawing 1.5 million viewers and outpacing CNN and MSNBC’s morning shows combined), this arrangement keeps their golden goose while letting him spread his wings a bit. Smart move, considering how many familiar faces have been stepping back lately — Hoda Kotb, Lester Holt, Chuck Todd, just to name a few.
Perhaps this signals something bigger in the shifting sands of television news. As veteran broadcasters increasingly seek flexibility over tradition, maybe the future of morning news isn’t anchored to a Manhattan studio after all. Could be it’s wherever the story — and the storyteller — happen to land.
Oh, and those signature neckties? “You may never see me in a necktie again,” Doocy quipped. Now that’s what freedom looks like in 2025.
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